S925 Silver Gold Steel Pillar Pendant

The column is an honest shape in objects. A building's column carries load, a seal's knob has to stand, a paperweight has to be square enough to hold paper down. There is no ornament to lean on; the look depends entirely on proportion — the contrast of thickness, the drawing in at both ends, the slight curve in an otherwise straight line. Done well it sits steadily anywhere; done badly you see the constraint at a glance. A column's beauty is in its shadow: light from one side, shadow falling on the other, and the straight line gains depth. A square column is harder than a round one; all four faces have to be the same width, and a difference shows.

The word vajra is Sanskrit: its root sense is thunderbolt, and it also means diamond — indestructible, able to break anything. Buddhism uses it for what cannot be shaken: the vajra seat, vajra concentration. The column takes the name half for its shape, half for that sense. In the sutras vajra is often paired with prajna, meaning the wisdom that cuts through. The word has been used so loosely that its original weight goes unmentioned.

The pendant's shaft is straight, with few lines and a slight drawing-in at both ends. This is the shape that tests polishing hardest: the flats have to be flat, the curves even, and under raking light there must be no waves along the body. Silver is soft, and uneven pressure in polishing leaves shallow hollows your finger cannot feel but light reveals. That is why a plain piece can cost more labour than a carved one. The worst thing at the ends is a flat cut; cut flat, it becomes a length of pipe. After polishing, the four faces should be compared against the light, and the duller one gone over again.

It suits men, and it does not look wrong on a woman; a column carries no obvious gender. Use a thicker cord — a fine one cannot hold this weight and the pendant lists to one side after two steps. Length to just above the chest; with a shirt, keep it inside and let one button show a section, which looks better than all of it outside. Choose cotton or waxed cord; nylon slips and the pendant slides down.

Silver oxidises, and on a flat column face the tarnish shows most easily, like a thin mist. Lay the silver cloth flat and work in one direction; do not circle, which leaves swirl marks. Store it in its own bag; a flat face suffers most from being stacked against hard objects. Tarnish on a column comes evenly, patch by patch, unlike carved pieces where only the hollows go black.